The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 4 eBook

“Drona said, ’Appeased I have already
been at the words first spoken by Bhishma, the son
of Santanu. Let such arrangements be made that
Partha may not be able to approach Duryodhana in battle.
And let such arrangements be made that king Duryodhana
may not be captured by the foe, in consequence either
of his rashness or want of judgment. Arjuna hath
not, to be sure, revealed himself before the expiry
of the term of exile. Nor will he pardon this
act (of ours) today, having only recovered the kine.
Let such arrangements, therefore, be made that he
may not succeed in attacking Dhritarashtra’s
son and defeating our troops. Like myself (who
am doubtful of the completion of period of exile)
Duryodhana also had said so before. Bearing it
in mind, it behoveth the son of Ganga to say what
is true.’”

SECTION LII

“Bhishma said, ’The wheel of time revolves
with its divisions, viz., with Kalas and
Kasthas and Muhurtas and days and fortnights
and months and constellations and planets and seasons
and years. In consequence of their fractional
excesses and the deviations of also of the heavenly
bodies, there is an increase of two months in every
five years. It seems to me that calculating this
wise, there would be an excess of five months and
twelve nights in thirteen years. Everything,
therefore, that the sons of Pandu had promised, hath
been exactly fulfilled by them. Knowing this
to be certain, Vibhatsu hath made his appearance.
All of them are high-souled and fully conversant with
the meanings of the scriptures. How would they
deviate from virtue that have Yudhishthira for their
guide? The sons of Kunti do not yield to temptation.
They have achieved a difficult feat. If they had
coveted the possession of their kingdom by unfair
means, then those descendants of the Kuru race would
have sought to display their prowess at the time of
the match at dice. Bound in bonds of virtue, they
did not deviate from the duties of the Kshatriya order.
He that will regard them to have behaved falsely will
surely meet with defeat. The sons of Pritha would
prefer death to falsehood. When the time, however,
comes, those bulls among men—­the Pandavas—­endued
with energy like that of Sakra, would not give up
what is theirs even if it is defended by the wielder
himself of the thunderbolt. We shall have to
oppose in battle the foremost of all wielders of weapons.
Therefore, let such advantageous arrangements as have
the sanction of the good and the honest be now made
without loss of time so that our possessions may not
be appropriated by the foe. O king of kings,
O Kaurava, I have never seen a battle in which one
of the parties could say,—­we are sure
to win. When a battle occurs, there must
be victory or defeat, prosperity or adversity.
Without doubt, a party to a battle must have either
of the two. Therefore, O king of kings, whether
a battle be now proper or not consistent with virtue
or not, make thy arrangements soon, for Dhananjaya
is at hand.’